Developer Niantic has begun to unlock the full partner potential of the Pokémon GO augmented reality game. Just yesterday a partnership between the game and Sprint retail stores was announced, teasing new in-game locations corresponding to Sprint, Boost Mobile, and Radio Shack stores. That rollout doesn't technically begin until December 12th, but the previously-leaked Starbucks promotion should be live right now, turning 7800 coffee shops in the US into new Pokestops and Pokémon Gyms.

Is Pokémon GO still cool? Because Sprint desperately needs to be associated with something cool. The nation's number four carrier is now the exclusive US carrier partner of Pokémon GO. What does that mean? More Poké Stops, more gyms, and more Sprint branding.

The potential for retail partnerships with Niantic's Pokémon GO mobile game is built right into its central hook - players travel to real-world locations to catch monsters and collect items, so why not steer them to participating stores or restaurants for a little synergistic profiteering? Ubiquitous coffee house Starbucks seems to be the first business taking Niantic up on a partnership. Internal documents detailing an upcoming promotion for employees, designated for US stores but leaked by Eurogamer, offers some sweet details for players and coffee fans alike.

Niantic has been taking flack ever since it removed the tracking feature in Pokémon GO a few days after launch. Then the developer started to roll out a new feature, named 'Nearby,' which showed Pokémon if they were near to Pokéstops. After feedback from users, that has now been tweaked a little, and it's on a slightly larger roll out.

The new, improved "Nearby" feature will only appear if you are close to a Pokéstop. This supposedly means that someone cannot look for a Pokéstop, find the Pokémon close to it, then go and catch them.

I suspect many of you have stopped playing Pokémon GO. Not only is it getting chilly in many areas, but there just isn't a lot to do once you've caught all the common Pokémon. You might be tempted to fire up the game again soon. A new update is rolling out with some welcome improvements, and there's a special Halloween event coming up in a few days.

The number of people playing Pokémon GO has declined in recent months, but the player base is still huge compared to most mobile games. The loss of casual players is probably down to the slow rate of improvements, but today there are a few significant changes rolling out. As we previously reported, Pokémon GO now has capture bonuses and improved training at gyms.

There's a new version of Pokémon GO hitting the Play Store, but prepare to be disappointed if you were expecting big changes. We do at least get the capture locations back, but they aren't as good as before. Those of you with the Pokémon GO Plus accessory will be able to use it a little more often too.

Pokémon GO might have moved on from its popularity boom, but it still maintains millions of active players. If you're one of those, you might be excited to hear that the Pokémon GO Plus accessory is now available. For just $34.99, you get the above wristband with a Pokéball in the shape of a Google Maps marker.

When paired with an Android 4.4+ device that supports Bluetooth 4.0, you can catch Pokémon without even opening your phone.

Despite much of the hype wearing off, Pokemon GO is still one of the most successful mobile games of all time. The game has become a cultural phenomenon, not to mention a money-maker for Niantic Labs, The Pokemon Company, and Nintendo. But just how many downloads has Pokemon GO achieved? Over 500 million across Android and iOS, according to a press release from earlier today.